(23-12-2012 04:09 PM)theophilus Wrote: I have just read your blog and I would like to comment on this statement about the animatronic T. rex in the creation museum.

Quote: When I say the dinosaur is stolen, I don't mean they literally stole it. They did spend a good deal of money having it built after all, but what I mean is that the reconstruction of it, the idea of how it moved and how it stood and it's coloring and basically every detail of its anatomy and physiology, is hijacked from the scientists who have spent their careers studying these organisms.

Imagine if you will that you are a master chef. You have spent your career perfecting a dish close to your heart. You set this dish loose upon the world for all to enjoy, and then someone else takes it, calls it their own, and begins to throw out the core ingredients that make it special.

The scientists who have studied the T. rex didn't invent it so they can't be considered owners of the information they have published about it in the same way that a chef is the owner of dish he creates. Knowledge cannot be owned by any individual or group so anyone who wishes can use it freely. The owners of the museum have simply studied the evidence and reached a different conclusion about what T. rex was like. This is the sort of thing that scientists do all of the time.

I'm well aware that they didn't invent it, the other side is claiming they know the guy who did.

The point is this, they take real science and real scientific information generated by scientists who dedicate their lives to it, and then misuse it while giving them no credit.

“Science is simply common sense at its best, that is, rigidly accurate in observation, and merciless to fallacy in logic.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley

I have a few historical research blogs: one is hosted on a history forum and the other is stand alone. The first is read by many of the members who are interested in Asian history, as well as anyone who happens upon it online. One of my articles has 11,000 views (my most popular). The other blog does not get very many views because it is such an obscure subject. However, I have been contacted by people wanting to use information from it. One reader is going to cite me in a book she is writing. Overall, neither of the blogs are super popular, but I don't write them for fame. I write and post the articles because I enjoy it.

The only blog I regularly read is Ed Yong's "Not Exactly Rocket Science" science blog. He has hopped from one website to another as the fame of his blog rose. He is currently hosted on the National Geographic website. You can see it here:

I run a baseball blog but I don't write as much as I should. A few people read it. When I really get into it then its definitely worth it. The one thing I do recommend is creating a Twitter account to help with networking and getting the name out there.